c-kit expression identifies cardiovascular precursors in the neonatal heart.

Directed differentiation of embryonic stem cells indicates that mesodermal lineages in the mammalian heart (cardiac, endothelial, and smooth muscle cells) develop from a common, multipotent cardiovascular precursor. To isolate and characterize the lineage potential of a resident pool of cardiovascular progenitor cells (CPcs), we developed BAC transgenic mice in which enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) is placed under control of the c-kit locus (c-kit(BAC)-EGFP mice). Discrete c-kit-EGFP(+) cells were observed at different stages of differentiation in embryonic hearts, increasing in number to a maximum at about postnatal day (PN) 2; thereafter, EGFP(+) cells declined and were rarely observed in the adult heart.

The National Football Head and Neck Injury Registry. Report and conclusions 1978.

The National Football Head and Neck Injury Registry has documented 1,129 injuries since 1971 that involved hospitalization for more than 72 hours, surgical intervention, fracture-dislocation, permanent paralysis, or death. Of this group of injuries, 550 were fracture-dislocations of the cervical spine, of which 176 were associated with permanent quadriplegia. It appears that during the last two decades, there has been a decrease in the incidence of direct fatalities, head injuries associated with intracranial hemorrhage, and injuries associated with death.

National football head and neck injury registry: report on cervical quadriplegia, 1971 to 1975.

Data on cervical spine injuries resulting from participation in football have been compiled by a national registry established in 1975. Information has been collected retrospectively by defined criteria since 1971. Efforts have been made to establish the mechanism of injury responsible in the majority of instances on the basis of epidemiologic evidence and recognized biomechanical principles.

Spinal injury at the level of the third and fourth cervical vertebrae from football.

Acute traumatic lesions of the spine at the third and fourth cervical levels without associated fracture are not common. The eight lesions in this report occurred as a result of injuries sustained during tackle football. They included acute intervertebral disc herniation, anterior subluxation of the third cervical vertebra on the fourth, unilateral dislocation of the joint between the articular processes, and bilateral dislocation of the joints between the articular processes.